Episode 6 continues the story of Larawell, a little girl that is said to be a demon as she is born by a woman long dead. Larawell and John, her father, are often ostracized and attacked by the villagers as there has been killings by visitors who stayed in the inn. Who is truly the killer of these mysterious murders as a new murder victim looms in the near future. Rahzel, Alzeid and Heat slowly unwraps this mystery as the latter episode of this arc shows.
On other news, T.H.A.T Anime blog was down for close to 16 hours. This is due to an incident where a fire in a Commonwealth Edison vault several weeks ago caused several transformers to require repairs. As our server is somewhat related to this event in terms of power distribution by one of the damaged transformers, maintenance is required. However, the maintenance took much longer than expected as there is a need to manually reboot the server by the administrators of the dedicated server. I apologize for the delays!
Screenshots: http://www.sendspace.com/file/ydlowe
Episode summary
Rahzel was laughing at the thought of black magic and says that John, Larawell’s father, would use black magic to revive his wife if he had such powers. Alzeid says it is perhaps good that the wife is dead, because if people really died in the inn, the police should have been involved. There is no need for Rahzel to be a detective, and Alzeid warned Rahzel not to devote too much feelings to every single person in their travels. They went out to breakfast, and Alzeid proposed that the visitors are not here due to murder but due to the horrible food. Rahzel says that she could have asked for permission to use John’s kitchen if she knows how terrible the food is in this town.
Rahzel wonders about the lax behavior of John and Larawell. At the bird cemetery, the child of the mayor is being chased, and he screams in fear before falling down. A gun shot rang. Rahzel realizes that Heat eavesdropped on the conversation between her and Larawell about her past, and Heat says that he’s sorry. When prompted further, Heat says he will punish himself by eating the horrible. Rahzel says she is not angry, and she decides to take out a deck of poker cards (made by John). It is a deck replaced by surnames, and there are no shapes. They decide to play poker, and Heat gets a pair of Suzaki. Rahzel gets a triple Suzaki and Alzeid says that there are a lot of Suzakis.
When Heat changes his cards, he found a joker card with various surnames and Rahzel explains there are great or bad joker cards. Rahzel says that the instruction manual added that Lin is a mysterious, and possibly fake name. After changing cards, Rahzel has a full house, and Heat has a four card. The next round, Alzeid won easily and proudly proclaimed that he is the king of poker. Heat says it’s impossible how Alzeid does it, but the other two ignores him. The game is stopped by a scream, as they found the corpse of the mayor’s child. The villagers are up in arms to lynch John and Larawell. Rahzel goes to rescue Larawell, but Larawell says that John has been hiding inside his room.
The mob is trying to break down, as Larawell opens the door. Larawell tries to pacify the mob, but a villager tries to attack Larawell with a stone only for Rahzel to stop the stone. Rahzel says that the mob are more like beasts since they are bullying the weak. The mayor screams at Rahzel, asking if she is one of the accomplices, and Rahzel just throws the stone to reveal the bald head of the mayor for not listening to her. The mayor says that the group does not know anything, as they tried to get him out by starting a fire. John finally came out and says it’s all his fault.
John reveals that he is the one who murders his wife because she wants to divorce him. The child in her womb was not his and she wants to leave with her lover. In anger, he kills him but picks up a baby at the cemetery (Larawell) and regards the baby to be the offspring of his wife and him. John brings them to the room, and it looks so much like an occult room. He tells everyone that he cannot forgive anyone who hurts Larawell and he wants to harm the people who did so. However, he says that he is only hurting Larawell more and decides to kill himself with a knife. With that, John’s body is hung up in the bird cemetery.
The three are thinking about Larawell, and Rahzel realizes that the whole room is just an act. It is to deviate away from the real murderer and bring the attention to him. It is clear that he is trying to protect the murderer and the only person he will protect is Larawell. Someone is knocking the door of the inn, and Larawell receives the person. As the three return, they heard a gunshot as they see Larawell with a gun. The corpse of the mayor is on the floor, as Larawell explains calmly that the mayor tries to kill her to revenge for his son. Larawell asks again whether she is disgusting for a murderer, and Rahzel says she is not.
Larawell kills her first person when the butt of a cigarette was stabbed onto her forehead. John always tries to remove the bodies, even though she has killed seven people. She always tells herself that she should not give John any trouble but she just cannot stop killing. Rahzel tries to come close, but Larawell takes a shot at Rahzel. Larawell starts a fire with the candlestick as she asks the question again to a murderer like her. Rahzel recalls her past as a terminal disease causes her mother to break down mentally. Rahzel’s father cannot handle this and left them as her mother’s rage turned onto Rahzel. Rahzel kills her mother when her mother went into a rage one day. Then, she was brought to a forest by her father and told to stay there.
Rahzel realizes that Larawell will not be happy with yes or no, but decides to invite her hand. Larawell says she starts to wonder if she will be forgiven, but it clearly is impossible. Larawell asks Rahzel whether she remembers the exercise about why Rahzel is not a demon. Larawell answers that Rahzel’s hand is very warm like the sun as she points the gun at her head. An explosion blew Larawell away as Rahzel says she can never save the people she wants to. In th aftermath, Rahzel releases a balloon as it symbolizes the feeling that Larawell wants to fly. When they finally move off, Alzeid and Heat extends their hands, as Rahzel is touched by the gesture.
Thoughts
I think the major moral story is whether Larawell is a murderer by nature or by nurture. The topic of nature or nurture is often debated by academics, intellectuals and social analysts due to the controversial nature of the topic. One key debate between this disparity is by the reasoning that some people are possessed with genes that are more inclined toward short term bursts of extreme violence as they have inherited them from their parents. More specifically, did their murdering tendencies come from biology (nature) or by their environment (nurture)?
In this case, I am reluctant to make the argument for biology. It is possible that there is some inherent violent gene within John, which is why he is able to kill a pregnant woman due to an outburst of violence and anger over his wife’s adultery. In fact, it might be one of the hidden catalysts for the massacre. Nevertheless, it seems more likely that it is the continuous abuse of Larawell by the villagers and the rather violent acts dealt to her that results in murderous instincts being built in her.
I cannot imagine honestly how Larawell manages to survive and her innocence as a child is completely demolished by the cruel nature. It is really nurture which leads to her killing so many people. I cannot understand why John condones Larawell for killing people, and why they never tried to move away from this town despite the abuse that Larawell and him receives. It does not make sense for me, even if the travels will take a long time for them. It’s better to go on a clean slate.
I am rather shocked of Rahzel’s history, considering that she looks chirpy and hardly looks like someone that will kill anyone truthfully. It really makes it hard to swallow that Rahzel has killed her mother and is abandoned by his father. That makes more sense of the flashbacks and I am impressed how Rahzel continues to live in a happy manner. I wonder who the father that kicked her out of the house is then. He is probably the adopted father, but Rahzel always have magic since she is young.
On the lighter side of the anime, I am totally baffled by the strange poker names where numbers and the royal crown are replaced by names and a joker that is like a wild card in UNO. I don’t mind playing such a queer game that is a rather cute variation of the traditional POKER game. Rahzel’s clothing this episode is terrible, if you ask me. I don’t mind frilly stuff, but that skirt makes her look just downright queer. This episode is actually very good in my opinion as there are little action scenes, so the weakness of the animation is not exposed. Other than that, it’s a very solid piece of storytelling that brings a few moral issues.
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9 Comments
I personally thought that the latter part of the episode was really jumpy. Now, smooth story telling has never been the characteristic of the anime, but the intersecting scenes at the last 5 minutes was rather anticlimatic and too rapid.
As for Larawell… in this case I feel that it’s completely a matter of nature, not nurture. She murdered someone at 4 years old, after all. How many kids think about (or do) after getting a cigarette burn? Most kids would cry and avoid the person instead.
I do wonder, though, how is it that a grown man could be so easily murdered by her?
Rahzel’s hair did make a very deep impression on me, though. And I too catch no ball with regards to the poker game.
@Briar: She uses a gun, and an adult is not likely to be able to defend a guy no matter how good they are. I really disagree with you that it’s nature because she is likely to be abused by the villagers since she is born. It is a collection of abuse that keeps on piling up on her psyche and the cigarette is simply a catalyst of all the pain and suffering she is dealt with by the villagers.
I am not denying that nature possibly has a part to play but I always doubt the logic that there is a possibility that genes make people more inclined to murder. I always believe that it is the environment that changes people, and it’s clear that Larawell has way too much abuse since she is born. She is born to be considered a demon by everyone around her.
Where can she live? How can she seven stay sane?
Impz confused the server’s power cable as a loli pop =)
NOPE.
I mistook it as a cookie.
OOPS!
How much interaction would a child of 4 years have had with the villagers? At that early an age, Larawell’s main interactions would have been with her father and with the customers at the inn who presumably knew nothing about her mysterious birth. While I agree that at a later age, she probably did suffer a lot of torment from the villagers, I don’t agree that she had experienced a great deal before her first murder at age 4. I just don’t think she would have had that much interaction with the village at that young age. I think her father would have shielded her from the tormenting until she was old enough to wander the village unaccompanied.
For the record, I don’t believe in the criminal gene theory myself. However, I do think that the story is trying to make a case for the theory with this particular incident.
I do agree with LKK; I don’t believe in the nature theory myself, but in the anime, it seems that Larawell is made out to be a sociopath by birth.
The scene where Larawell was burned by the cigarette is also a key point, IMO. Before she was burned, she was happy and just like any normal 4 years old. She didn’t look abused at all. That, combined with LKK’s post, made me think that she was hardly abused before committing murder.
Missed it about the gun, though. Oops. How does a 4 year old child know how to use a gun anyway???
@LKK: I wonder though. I am sure that there’s a huge sense of resistance by the village on the first day she is born. I remember reading an article about children where their receptivity and cognitive behavior is the strongest. It means that they are likely to copy manners, ways and things that others will do. In that case, I am quite sure that the customer probably deliberately did so, as they are warned by the villagers about the demon girl. She probably snapped then.
I do feel the same that the story is making that case, but I cannot agree on it.
@briar: Arrr, i see but I wonder if she’s really made out to be a sociopath. Children start to be able to understand and comprehend things after 1-2 years old. She must have seen some of the things that have been done to her father. In a way, it might be just a latent effect that finally blew open during this time. It’s just how I feel about it.
Ya, it’s surprising how she actually used a gun to kill.
Uhh… guys, it’s called “bad storytelling.” You don’t need to try and reconcile everything, from using a gun at age 4 to being abused since birth, etc. If it doesn’t all fall into place that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s simply a tricky puzzle. It can also mean the writing is rubbish ^_^ (and in Hatenkou Yuugi, it mostly is).
this is great and all but where do I watch it?